Starting-clutch.



PATENTED DEC. 20, 1904.

J. F. WILKINSUN.

STARTING CLUTCH.

APPLICATION FILED MAE.30,1904.

N0 MODEL. 2SHBETS-SHEBT 1.

iNVENTORt ,4mt AA7K/ No. 777,993. PATENTED DEC. 20, 1904. J. P.WILKINSON.

STARTING CLUTCH.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.30,1904.

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UNITED STATES Patented December 20, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

STARTING-CLUTCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 777,993, dated December20, 1904.

' Application filed March 30, 1904. Serial No. 200,721.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN F. WVILKINsON, of Gloucester, in the county ofEssex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Starting-Clutches, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention has for its object to produce an improved device formachines employing a treadle mechanism for throwing the crank off of adead-center and for starting the driving-wheel in the proper directionwhen the treadle is operated and preventing it from rotating in thewrong direction.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved clutchmechanism which, while particularly designed for use in connection witha treadle mechanism such as above mentioned, may be employed for manyother purposes and in connection with mechanisms widely varying fromthose illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In Letters Patent No. 592,57 7 granted to me October 26, 1897, I haveshown, described, and claimed a treadle attachment provided with aclutch and comprising a construction which allows the drivingswheel andthe crankshaft to revolve freely in one direction, the clutch locking itagainst rotating in the opposite direction. By said construction when asupplemental treadle is depressed, even though the pitman and the crankare on a dead-center, it will start the shaft in the direction desiredfar enough for the treadle to revolve the driving-wheel when saidtreadle is depressed. In such structure the driving-shaft will at notime be allowed to rotate in the wrong direction, and upon starting themachine to work the driving-shaft is given its initial movement Withoutthe help of the hands, which is generally given to the rotating parts ofmachines which are not provided with attachments of this nature. Mypresent invention is shown in the accompanying drawings as relating tothe same character of mechanism as in said patent, and the generaloperation is the same. The particular improvements herein claimed relateto the clutch and the supplemental treadle, as I shall presentlydescribe.

My improved clutch is adapted to many uses, and when used in connectionwith a treadle vlooking from the right in Fig. 1.

and. supplemental treadle, as hereinafter described, is adapted to beused in connection with a machine of any pattern or class employing atreadle and driving-wheel. Ohiefly for convenience of illustration Ihave shown the present invention as applied to the driving mechanism ofa sewing-machine.

Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,Figure 1 represents afront elevation of a sewing-machine frame having myimproved mechanism supported thereby. Fig. 2 represents a side elevationFig. 3 represents a detail section, enlarged, on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1.Fig. 4c represents a section on line 4: 4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 represents asection on line 5 5 of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 represents adetail section throughthe treadle, said section being on a line so as to represent thesupplemental treadle and its lever in elevation.

Similar reference characters indicate the same or similar partsthroughout the several views.

The frame 10 of the machine is provided with the usual shaft or rod 11at the base, on which rod the treadle 12 is pivoted in an ordinarymanner. The treadle 12 is connected, by means of a pitman-rod 13, withthe crank 14 of the driving-wheel 15. The hub 16 of the driving-wheel(see particularly Fig. 4:) is mounted on a stud-shaft 17, projectingfrom the frame, suitable antifriction-bearings being employed. So far asdescribed the construction embodies nothing which I claim as novel. Oneside of the hub is machined out to form a circular chamber 18, of whichthe inner wall is indicated at 19 and the outer wall at 20. Said twowalls are of course concentric, and they form the two faces betweenwhich the clutch-bar is located, as will be presently described. The hub16 is formed with a shoulder 21, and a collar 22 is secured upon the endof the hub by suitable means. such as a setscrew 23. Mounted on the hubso as to freely oscillate thereon is the clutch-ring 24:,said ring beingheld in proper position between the shoulder 21 and collar 22. A stud25, having an arm 26, is mounted in an opening in the ring 24, said studprojecting into the chamber 18, but not far'enough so that the end ofthe stud will come in contact with the bottom of the said chamber. Theshoulder 21 prevents the clutch-ring from moving laterally, so as topermit of any friction of the end of the stud 25 with the bottom of saidchamber, as clearly indicated in Fig. 4. The stud 25 is formed with anaperture, preferably circular in cross-section, in which aperture theclutchdog 27 is loosely mounted. The angle at which the aperture isformed in the stud, and consequently the angle which the clutch-dog willpresent to the clutch-faces 19 and 20, is such that it may be describedas between a radius and a tangent of either of said clutchfaces. Theends of the clutch-dog are beveled,

\ so as to fit the concentric clutch-surfaces 19 and 20, such fit beingrendered absolutely certain and accurate in spite of any possiblevariations in the surfaces 19 and 20, owing to the looseness of theclutch-dog in the aperture of the stud.

I shall now proceed to describe the means and connections whereby theclutch serves to prevent any possibility of the crank 14 getting on adead-center, said clutch serving to start the crank over or beyond suchdead-center, if it should rest at that point.

A lever 28 is pivoted at 29 to cars 30, which extend downward from thetreadle 12. Said lever 28 extends underneath the treadle and is providedwith a heel 31, between which and the under side of one edge of thetreadle a spring 32 is interposed, said spring having a tendency tonormally hold the lever 28 in the position shown in Fig. 6. Said leveris provided, however, with a foot-piece 33, which projects through anopen portion of the treadle 12 in position where the said piece 33 maybe depressed by the foot of the operator. Such depression of the piece33, and consequently of the lever 28, against the action of the spring32 causes the clutch-arm 26 to be drawn downward, a link 34: connectingthe end of the lever 28 with the end of said arm 26. Of course the lever28 being carried by the treadle 12 will be constantly moved up and downslightly with the motions of the treadle, and this motion of the lever28 will be transmitted through the link 34 to the arm 26; but since thismotion of the lever 28 and arm 26 can only be taking place when thetreadle 12 is causing the driving-wheel 15 to rotate the movement of theclutch-ring, although an oscillating one, will not interfere with therotation of the wheel-hub. This is because when the clutch-ring ismoving in the same direction as the wheel, such direction beingindicated by the arrow in Fig. 2, the lever 26 is drawn downward andserves to cause the ends of the clutch-dog to engage the concentricclutch-faces. However, when the clutchring is oscillated in a directionopposite to the movement of rotation of the driving-wheel or if at anytime during the opposite movement of the clutch-ring the driving-wheel31S moving faster than the clutch-ring, the concentric clutch-faces willsimply slip over the beveled ends of the clutch-dog. The positions ofthe parts represented in Figs. 2 and 3 will clearly show that no matterwhat might be the position of the pitman-rod 13 and crank 14:, whetheron a dead-center or not, the pressure of the operators foot upon theprojection 33 of the supplemental treadle will cause a pull upon theouter end of the arm 26, which will force the clutch-dog to bind betweenthe inner and outer concentric clutch-faces 19 and 20, and thereforestart the rotation of the driving-wheel. At the same time it will beobviously impossible to start the drivingwheel in the wrong direction,for the reason that the same binding of the clutch-dog which enables itto give a starting movement to the driving-wheel will act as a clutch toprevent movement of the driving-wheel in the wrong direction. Byreferring particularly to Fig. 3 it will be seen that the arm 26 of theclutchdog-carrying stud is extended forward of said stud and formed witha toe 35, which rests upon the hub of the clutch-carrying disk or ringand prevents any loose motion further than enough to permit the releaseof the clutch.

It will be readily understood that when released the grip of the clutchis absolutely frictionless, while at the same time the grip isabsolutely rigid when it is engaged. It is also entirely noisless inoperation, and although particularly well adapted for a treadle-startingmechanism it is readily adaptable to many other uses.

If it should be desired to equip a machine in which the driving-shaftrotates in the opposite direction with my improvement, the clutch ismerely reversed, as will be readily understood. I desire also to mentionthat I do not limit myself to the precise arrangement of theconnections, even when employed as treadle mechanism, since the partsmay be varied in location and formed to suit any particular style oftreadle.

The lever 28 is formed with a shoulder or upward extension 280, adaptedto contact with the under surface of a portion of the treadle 12 beforethe outer end of said lever 28 could strike the under side of saidtreadle. This prevents the noise that would result if the end of thelever 28 were free to strike the treadle 12.

I do not limit myself to the loose mounting of the dog 27 in the stud25, although such loose mounting is preferable because it compensatesfor any slight irregularities in the faces 19 and 20. It is obvious,however, that the advantages of a dog adapted to oscillate betweeri twoopposed concentric faces forming the outer and inner walls of acontinuous groove or circular way would be obtained if the dog wererigidly affixed to the stud instead of being adapted to slip endwisetherein.

Having thus explained the nature of the invention and described a Way ofconstructing and using the same, although Without having attempted toset forth all the forms in Which it may be, embodied or all the modes ofits use, I declare that What I claim is 1. In mechanism of the characterspecified, a clutch comprising two members, one of Which is providedwith inner and outer concentric faces, and the other comprising a studmounted to oscillate, and a dog extending through the stud and havingits ends adapted to bind on the said inner and outer faces.

2. In mechanism of the character specified, a clutch comprising tWomembers, one of which is provided with inner and outer concentric faces,and the other comprising a stud mounted to oscillate, and a dogextending through the stud and having its ends adapted to bind on thesaid inner and outer faces, the said dog being loosely mounted in thestud.

3. A clutch comprising a hub member having inner and outer concentricfaces, a ring mounted to oscillate on said hub, a stud mounted in saidring, a dog mounted in said stud at an angle, and means forsimultaneously oscillating said dog and ring.

4. A clutch comprising a hub member having inner and outer concentricfaces, a ring mounted to oscillate on said hub, a stud mounted in saidring and having an angular aperture, a dog having beveled ends looselyfitting said aperture and adapted to bind against the said concentricfaces, said stud having an arm, and means for oscillating said arm.

5. A treadle mechanism comprising a driving-Wheel, a crank, a pitman, atreadle, the latter having a supplemental treadle movable relatively toit, inner and outer concentric faces formed in the hub ofthedriving-Wheel. an angularly-mounted clutch-dog between said inner andouter faces, means for changing the angle of said dog, and connectionsWhereby said angle of the dog may be changed by movements of thesupplemental treadle relatively to the main treadle.

6. The combination With the driving-Wheel having its hub formed Withinner and outer concentric clutch-faces, of a crank, pitman, and treadlefor rotating said driving-Wheel, a ring mounted to oscillate on saidhub, a stud mounted in said ring, a loose clutch-dog carried by saidstud and adapted to engage said inner and outer clutch-faces, an armextending from said stud, a supplemental treadle connected With theoperating-treadle, and a link connecting said supplemental treadle Withthe arm of the clutch-dog.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence of twoWitnesses.

JOHN F. WILKINSON.

Witnesses:

N. W. HARRISON, R. M. PIERSON.

